Oakland gets A-Team help

Be on the lookout for Pitt students sporting khakis, navy blue jackets, sling bags and caps… Be on the lookout for Pitt students sporting khakis, navy blue jackets, sling bags and caps walking down Forbes and Fifth avenues starting March 17.

The students are part of a new volunteer program called the A-Team, short for Ambassador Team, which is seeking to increase Oakland’s attraction to visitors.

Oakland can be very intimidating to first-time visitors, said the program’s creator, Danille Kobet, a junior who is also the director of programs for the Pitt Pathfinders.

Volunteers will be giving directions and passing out Only in Oakland guides, as well as city maps and bus schedules, to visitors, Kobet said. The Only in Oakland guides list numerous businesses for a variety of services, including retail, health and beauty and food.

Volunteers will also be giving personal suggestions for where to eat, park and attend events, Kobet said. Oakland Business Improvement District workers who clean the cities’ streets are asked up to 100 questions a week about directions and where to shop, “and that’s not their jobs,” Kobet said.

BID originated the idea and Kobet expanded on it and brought in the student perspective, Kobet said.

The Pitt Pathfinders showcase Pitt, Kobet said, and the A-Team is merely an expansion of that idea by showcasing the Oakland community as a whole. The A-Team wants to make coming to Oakland an enjoyable experience so that visitors will spread the word and come again, Kobet said.

The Sprout Fund, a nonprofit organization that awards grants each month to different community service projects, funds the A-Team. The Sprout Fund, which supports mostly youth-run organizations and events, wants “students to have a vested interest” in the community, said Matt Hannigan, program manager for The Sprout Fund.

The volunteers will walk along Forbes and Fifth avenues as well as the intersection streets between McKee Place and Bouquet Street Mondays and Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The program will only run from March 17 through the week of April 14 this semester, but will start up again this fall, Kobet said.

Information about the A-Team program will be posted in UPMC hospital rooms and in local businesses, Kobet said. The khaki and navy uniforms will help visitors spot the volunteers, who will also be wearing a purple button stating their motto: “We Know Where You Are,” she said.

“People are going to feel more comfortable and secure in finding their way around Oakland,” said Oakland Councilman Gene Ricciardi, who has been named honorary captain of the A-Team.

“The effect of this can be as close as Mt. Lebanon … or as far away as China,” Kobet said, in terms of visitors who will be impacted by the program.

Because visitors will be more informed about the services Oakland has to offer, they will probably spend more money and “bring in more revenue to the district,” Kobet said, adding that she isn’t discouraged by the poor economy.

Oakland is the third largest commercial district in Pennsylvania, with Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh being first and second, respectively, said Alecia Sirk, executive director of the Oakland Business Improvement District. The ratings are measured based on how many people are in the area at noon, Kobet said.

“People are going to spend money,” she said. “And if they’re going to spend it, they might as well spend it here. Everyone needs to eat, buy clothes.”

And Oakland has a variety of places that people can both eat and buy clothes, she pointed out, holding up the Only in Oakland guidebook with numerous listings for business services that could all be found nearby.

The goal for this year, besides increasing Oakland’s revenue, is to recruit ambassadors for the A-Team.

“We want more volunteers,” Sirk said.

Currently the A-Team has 20 volunteers who were recruited through ads placed in The Pitt News and by information about the program being mailed to various Pitt student organizations.

Although all the current volunteers are Pitt students, Kobet said Carnegie Mellon University and Carlow College students are also welcome.

Interested students can visit www.onlyinoakland.org.